Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Gerald K. Gresseth. "The Odyssey and the Nalopakhyana." Transactions of the American Philological Association, 109:63-85.

Employing his own terminology of "structure-slot," "motif," and "theme" (the last described as more individualistic and less traditional than the second), he calls attention to the marked similarities between the Odyssey and an episode in the Mahabharata. Concludes from these two versions of the same story that Homer consciously shifted themes for dramatic effect.
Area: AG, SK, CP